The Best and Wisest Man
by falconer54
Summary: Everything seems to be reminding him of his Boswell... new chapter- watson is having nightmares about the war. Complete, unless you want me to continue.
1. The Best and Wisest Man

A/N- This idea seized me, after reading numerous other ones like it, and I knew I had to write my own. You can probably tell, but the italics are taken from "The Final Problem."

THE BEST AND WISEST MAN

He stares at the magazine he has just bought off a very startled passerby. He reads the first lines of the article, and then snaps the book shut. Taking a deep breath, he reads the sentence again.

_It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write these last words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts by which my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes was distinguished..._

Watson. The name hurts him like a blow to the chest. He misses his Boswell with an intensity that he never knew was possible. Taking another breath, he forces himself to keep reading.

_…I had often admired my friend's courage, but never more than now, as he sat quietly checking off a series of incidents which must have combined to make up a day of horror…_

"He admired _my _courage?" he thinks, "Watson, who has lived through war, and emerged from it a better man, admires _my _courage. He has much more than me, that is perfectly and painfully clear. My dear Watson…"

_...I shall be brief, and yet exact, in the little which remains for me to tell. It is not a subject on which I would willingly dwell, and yet I am conscious that a duty devolves upon me to omit no detail…_

He takes another deep breath here, and forces himself to continue reading.

_...As I turned away I saw Holmes, with his back against a rock and his arms folded, gazing down at the rush of the waters. It was the last that I was ever destined to see of him in this world... _

He reads the next part, of Watson shouting his name. He remembers it all too clearly, and wishes, for Watson's sake, that this deception was not necessary. He had almost shouted Watson's name back at those wretched falls… nobody had any idea how close he had come to doing, how much it had pained him hearing Watson's heart-wrenching cries.

_… clear his memory by attacks upon him whom I shall ever regard as the best and wisest man whom I have ever known._

He puts the copy of _The Strand _down, and, so softly that it is almost inaudible, says, "My dear Watson… …you said you would be 'brief, and yet exact,' but I am afraid you are sorely mistaken. _You _are the best and wisest man whom I have ever known."


	2. Orderlies

He can immediately tell that the man walking towards him is an army man. They have a certain dignity in their stride; they never completely lose the rigid mannerisms. He should know, after living with a veteran for a decade. He swallows at the sudden memory of Watson. And then he remembers the date, the significance of it. Today is July 27.

Maiwand. Though Watson has never told him the specifics, he has been able to piece together what happened that fateful day, from Watson's horrific nightmares...

And he can see the troubled look in the man's eyes, that haunted look he had seen in his Boswell's hazel eyes in the early days of their acquaintance.

He has never been one to tolerate emotions, much less comfort, but he now yields to the uncharacteristic urge to help this man.

"Is something amiss, sir?"

Startled, the man turns. "No... Yes. Nothing that can be helped now. I was just... Remembering."

"Remembering the war. Today... Twelve years ago, sir... I was in one of the most horrific, wretched battles ever fought on this earth. I was an orderly to a doctor, you see, but I will never forget when he himself got hurt... But that bullet may have saved his life, for if... Sorry, sir, forgive me..." the man then shakes his head sadly.

"No, continue. Heaven knows you need to tell someone..." he replies. A possibility is occurring to him...

"What's your name, sir?"

"David Murray."

A/N PLEASE vote for what Holmes should do next (see poll in my profile)!


	3. Let Slip the Dogs of War

LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR

"Cry havoc! and let slip the dogs of war, that this foul deed shall smell above the earth with carrion men, groaning for burial."-William Shakespeare

Meanwhile, back in London, Doctor John Watson is trying to repel the demons of war from his thoughts. Yet he is failing miserably.

_He could ignore the reports of the guns, he could ignore the stifling heat. But he could not ignore the braying of the terrified horses or the agonized cries of the dying men. He turned his attention to the man in front of him. But the sniper's aim had been true, and he could only watch as the young soldier's life blood poured out onto the sand. The young man let out one final breath, before succumbing to the wounds that he had sustained. Another young man, one with his whole life ahead of him, was dead. Watson could almost wail at the waste of life that this war was causing. As the doctor reverently closed the young soldier's eyes, he felt a searing pain in his left shoulder… _

_"Doctor!" His orderly, David Murray. Watson was dimly aware of his orderly's frightened tone before he fell into the welcoming blackness. _

_"M'rray?" He slurred, jolting awake as the cart hit a bump. Paroxysms of pain were flying through his shoulder… and now his leg hurt, too. He took a shaky breath, but it hurt even to breathe._

_"I'm here," his orderly replied. Answering Watson's unspoken question, he continued, "You were bending over a soldier when a sniper hit your shoulder with a Jezail. We retreated to Kandahar, but they sent us to Peshawar… during the retreat, another sniper hit you in the leg…"_

_Watson groaned and fell into merciful unconsciousness again._


	4. The Nature of War

"Sir, you must first understand the nature of war. Erase any preconceived notions of honor. Honor does not come from fighting in the battle, from killing the enemy. Honor comes from how you react to the battle, to the deaths. Both the doctor and I were forced to either become callous or take the deaths hard. Neither of us could find it in us to become callous and brush off the deaths like some of the others did. Sir, you have never known complete helplessness until you have watched the enemy shoot down your friends and comrades and be unable to reach them in time..." here he pauses and takes a deep breath.

"the worst part was telling the families that their son was dead. Either killed by the snipers, or worse, the Ghazis."

"We were part of the 66th Berkshires. I was orderly to a Dr. John Watson. At Mai... At Maiwand, he was hit in his leg and his shoulder by snipers... He was bending over a man who had been hit when I heard his strangled cry. I had been looking for other injured, seeing who was the worst...Yet, they may have saved his life... For if he had stayed any longer with that ill fated regiment... He surely would have died... With the others."


	5. Innocence

_David Murray sat there, looking at the photograph he held in his hands. He had been acting nostalgic all day, and he was not acting himself. "Murray, is something amiss?" I asked, my concern for my orderly overriding my suspicion that he would be offended if I asked. But I had noticed that a single tear was falling down his cheek._

_I realized what was wrong with my question as soon as the words escaped my lips- of course something was amiss, we were at war in a foreign land- but by then it was too late. _

_He started, surprised by my sudden inquiry. "What? Oh, no, Doctor Watson, nothing is wrong. But my brother, Edward… I… he's graduating today. I should be there!"_

_"He'll understand," I consoled my orderly, moving in to look at the photograph. "Is that he?"_

_Murray nodded mutely, but he did not look me in the eyes. He was sadly looking at the photograph where he and his brother were innocent kids playing in the glen. But the playful, carefree eyes of the children in the photograph were a stark contrast to the gaunt, war-haunted eyes of the man next to me._

__A/N- This is a sort of prequel to another story I'm planning on writing when I get the structure ready. Which at the rate it's going, will be pretty far in the future.


	6. Horrors I Have Seen

The man now pauses, letting Holmes reflect on what Murray has just said. He has no doubt that Watson indeed would have taken the deaths hard, blamed himself for the lives lost...

"The uncertainty of whether you would survive into the next day forces you to be more guarded about making friends, for one never knows if one will live to see the next day... It was necessary to retain a certain detachment, in order to keep from going insane.

"War brings out the worst in people, however, it also brings out the best. I once saw a colonel run into the thick of battle, sacrificing himself so his regiment would stand a fighting chance.

"I have also seen men turn on each other when they are under siege, turn on the sick and wounded and take their belongings... Some of the men turned savage... What I have just told you pales in comparison to other horrors I have seen, but I have no wish to burden you even more.."

Holmes closes his eyes, trying to repel the images of his Watson in that brutal place.


	7. Nightmares

_The guns were firing, he sees the man fall. "colonel? Colonel Raines?" he asks._

_The doctor tries to stop the flow of blood, and the colonel changes into Sherlock Holmes. "Holmes! Listen to me. You will not die!" but the blood welling on his dear friends shirt tells a different story. Holmes looks him in the eyes one last time, and breathes his last. _

_"Holmes! Holmes. HOLMES!" the doctor's eyes grew wide. Tears are threatening to well, but he supresses them. he knows Holmes hates... Hated... Emotional outbursts._

__

Holmes hears his name being cried out from the upstairs bedroom. The voice is racked with pain. Watson. He enters his room.

"Holmes," Watson says dully.

Holmes looks at him expectantly.

"A nightmare. About the war."

Holmes nods. "pray continue"

"I... I was too late to save Colonel Raines, but... Before... Before he died, he turned into you."

Holmes bowed his head. He had never been a person for emotional dispays, and besides, what did you say to that?

_"Doctor, do not go near that waterfall. That is an order."_

_He ignores the order, and goes next to the falls. He is still there a day later, next to an empty grave._

_Sherlock Holmes_

_1854 - 1891_

_The best and wisest man whom I have ever known._


End file.
